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Thomas Paine Essay

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Thomas Paine
Too Radical for America? Why?

Thomas Paine was born on February 9, 1737 in Thetford, in the English county of Norfolk. During his early days in England he tried many things to earn a living, but was not consistent in working with just one thing. He worked as a corset maker, school master, and custom inspector. However, at the age of 37 in 1774 he decided to migrate to the British colonies of North America and arrived in Philadelphia in Nov 1774. He was a friend of the Franklin’s and was recommended by the great inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin to come to America. Upon arrival, he was soon employed as an editor in the Pennsylvania Magazine. He took keen interest in the rising political tensions in the then British Colonies. At first, he supported Britain`s rule over the colonies. However, after the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775, he changed his mind and worked towards the independence of America from the British Rule. He was one of the revolutionary writers during the period of American Revolution and is considered the American Four Fathers. His writings worked as magic within the people of the colonies, it not only united the people to stand against the British Rule, but also motivated them to fight and enrol in the Continental Army to gain independence from the British. He was out an out a radical in the true sense who worked for liberty, equality and justice for men and for women, and was an intellectual literary writer that changed the course of the American history. He was also in favor of the abolition of slavery.
His most famous work includes Common Sense, a public call for independence that changed the nature and the course of the American Revolution and the War of Independence that was published in January 1776 and by the year end had more than a million copies sold in the colonies. The book became a best seller overnight, and was widely read in the British colonies and was later...